Part 3: Is Jesus the only way?

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” John 14:6-7

We are standing against others to so-called support Jesus mainly based on this verse that our teachers have focused on. Are you sure you have known his words properly?
This is what our teachers teach us: “Jesus did not say, ‘I am a way'. He said, ‘I am the way'.”
The fact that Jesus is the way to God is absolutely and eternally correct.
However, based on wrong interpretations, you feel you have the right to stand against others since you believe Jesus has plainly announced that he is the only way.
There is no doubt that Jesus is the way to God. Now, let us know this sentence afresh.
Jesus is the way.
To who?
He is the way to the Father (No one comes to the father except through me).
Apparently, Jesus is not the final destination. He is clearly announcing that he is the way to the father who is:1- Greater than him
(John 10:29, My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand . Also, John 13:16, I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. King James version: Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. Also, John 14:28, for the Father is greater than I). You may find more references in your bible where Jesus plainly says that he is sent by the father.2- Has sent him
(Mathew 10:40, he who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Also, Mathew 15:24, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel . King James version: But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel .3- Knows more than him
(John 8:28, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me . Also, Mathew 24:36, No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.) As you see in these two verses, the Father knows more than Jesus.4- Is the only ‘pure good'
(Mark 10:18, “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good - except God alone”.)
In short, the Father is the final destination. He who reaches the Father has the real life.
Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:25
What is his command?
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love.” John 15:10
What is his command?
“My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:12
Also in Mark 12:29-31:
“The most important one,” Jesus answered, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord Our God , the Lord is one . Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.”
Well-said Jesus!
Jesus has plainly told you that those who obey his commands will remain in his love. As you clearly see in his commands, he has not put himself in the center of attention, nor has he mentioned that faith alone will save you. Do you not think it was easier and more comfortable for him to say ‘if you just believe in me, you will remain in my love'?
Ask your bible teachers, and they will tell you that even Satan believes that Jesus is from God. So, is Satan saved?
The commandments Jesus has introduced are eternal. Love, love, and love! So, Jesus will be the way eternally. He is eternal because of the eternal way he has introduced. He is important because of his mission. His mission is to show you the way to the Father.
Today, let me tell you all that what saves you is ‘love'; neither Jesus nor any other messengers. If messengers saved you all, the heaven were full of people! If believing in Jesus' name alone could save you, there were billions of people in the heaven already. If this were true, Jesus would never say that only a few would find it (Mathew 7:13-14).
Please kindly note that billions of Christians throughout history could not be called ‘ a few '! There should be some problems with English grammar if ‘a few' meant ‘billions'!
Now, let's face some questions:
Question 1:
What if you do not obey Jesus' commands?
The answer is clear: you will be cut out (Mathew 7:13-14 Also, Mathew 25:31-46. Also, Mathew: 21-23).
Question 2:
What if another messenger gives you the same commandments, with a little bit different approach?
Apparently, Jesus has no problems with this. See Mathew 23:2 = “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' sit. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.”
Also in Mathew 9:12, Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”
What does it mean?
Jesus is plainly announcing that those who are healthy do not need a doctor. So, you could be saved without a messenger. If you are already doing what a messenger is saying, even if you do not know it by yourself, you are already saved.
You may also see Mathew 9:13 “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus has not come for the righteous. Why? “Because the sick need a doctor not the healthy”. Because the righteous are already saved. So, you could be saved without Jesus.
Question 3:
What if a person who has ‘love' and obeys Jesus' commands unknowingly, but does not know Jesus personally? For example, what happens to your mom and dad, who you believe were highly spiritual and good people, but died without having the chance to know Jesus? Or, what happens to those millions of people who lived and died before Jesus?
Question 4:
Should all non-Christians, including those who have ‘love' and are healthy and those who died before Jesus, face eternal punishment because they have not had the chance to know Jesus?
Could you imagine that the same God who has formed all humankind is already busy burning billions of people in the fire of the hell simply because they do not know Jesus of Nazareth!
What a God! What a love! What a judgment! What a dictatorship! Where is the human right organization?!
Question 5:
You are Christian. So, you are saved, no matter what you do. Therefore, feel free to do anything you like, no matter how evil it is, since God will not deport you from the heaven because of the blood of Jesus. You cannot kill more people than Adolph Hitler killed. He is happily in heaven now because of the blood of Jesus! You will be there too, won't you?
I raised this question because your bible teachers say, “salvation is a free gift from God because of the blood of Jesus. We can do nothing to earn this salvation. God grants us our salvation when we believe in Jesus. Nothing can take our salvation away since we are already saved by what Jesus did on the cross”.
Jesus is the way. This, however, does not mean that Moses, for example, is not the way. Jesus came to prune the society that had gone far away from the commands of Moses. Jesus believed in Moses as well as in other prophets who came before him. His problem was with those who were teaching in the name of Moses but were really far from Moses' true commands.
Therefore, there is another question here:
Question 6:
What if those who are teaching in the name of Jesus follow the example of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law? Should we follow them sheepishly or should we appreciate and welcome the corrections?
Do you still remember that church sold heaven to people in the name of Jesus during the Dark Ages? They were teaching in the name of Jesus with the same bible in their hands. Do you still remember Martin Luther? Do you really believe the spiritual dark ages have ended?
The light in my room has all the features to be called ‘light'. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the light in your room is not ‘light'.
What your teachers do not teach you is that if another messenger proclaims the same mission, he will also be the light. Are you interested in a physical object called ‘lamp' or you are light-seekers? If you are looking for the light, do not focus on the lamp. If you are interested in the lamp alone, you are not light-seekers; rather, you are shopkeepers!
Remember that bible also said ‘God is the light and Jesus is the lamp' (Revelation 21:23 “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp”).
My Christian brothers and sisters, Jesus has no problems with Moses or other messengers. His problem is with the followers of the former religion in that area (“I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel .” Mathew 15:24).
To close this section, I invite you all to read the ‘Seven Woes' again in Mathew and you will see that Jesus has got problems with the hypocrite snakes! What is your problem?
Listen, this is Jesus speaking: “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord '. Mathew 23:39.
How many of you have seen him by now? Open up your eyes and smile at the peace. I am giving you his words in the name of the Almighty God.
Seven Woes, Mathew 23:13-39 (NIV Version)
13“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
15“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
23“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and selfindulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
33“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”